Karrie Baloga eager to prove herself at World Junior Track and Field Championships
Karrie Baloga was waiting with great anticipation for her flight to Cali, Colombia and the World Junior Track and Field Championships.
“It’s kind of hard to sit still,’’ she said Friday evening.
Baloga’s running exploits have taken her across the country and back but this will be her first time representing Team USA and headed to South America.
“I’m just soaking it all in and trying to have as much fun as I can,’’ said the rising senior at Cornwall High School.
Baloga said her summer training consisted of maintenance runs of long distance and at a quicker pace. She got hurdles and track work in at Saint Lawrence University in Canton while enjoying a vacation with fishing and swimming.
On Monday afternoon Baloga will be one of 27 athletes representing 21 nations in the semifinals of the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. She earned her spot last month at the U.S. Junior Championships.
There will likely be two heats, starting at 1:32 p.m. ET with the likelihood that the top six finishers per heat and handful of next-fastest times would advance to Thursday’s 8:20 p.m. final. Weather conditions won’t be ideal, expected to be 66 degrees, cloudy and a good chance for rain.
Baloga said she’s glad that her semifinal is one of the first events on the meet calendar.
“I’m really hoping to qualify for the final,’’ she said. “I think that’s one of my biggest goals going into it besides time. I’m just going to really work hard for that.’’
The odds to medal are long for Baloga. She is seeded No. 23 out of 27 at 10 minutes, 27.13 seconds. At 16 years and 10 months, she is the second-youngest competitor – only 15-year-old Tetiana Kohut of Uganda is younger.
The top three seeds – based on top 2022 finishes – are Sembo Alamayew of Ethiopia (9:09.19), Faith Cherotich of Kenya (9:12.04) and Meseret Yeshaneh of Ethiopia (9:33.34). Only five competitors have run sub-10 minutes. Alamayew finished fifth in her heat at the recent World Championships in Oregon. Cherotich won bronze at the last junior worlds in Nairobi.
Karrie’s father, Barry, said he’s encouraged his daughter to go out hard for the opening 2,000 meters and see what’s left in the tank. Baloga is one of the fastest scholastic steeplechasers in the nation and ranked No. 2 in New York state (6:32.58).
This is only the second time Baloga – who has committed to running for the University of Colorado – has raced the steeplechase at the college length of 3,000 meters (high school distances are 2,000) but she is quite familiar with running the 3K on the flat track and 5K (3.1 miles) in cross country.
“The one thing I took away from the qualifier was that I need to be able to run my race and stick to my plan,’’ she said. “I need to go out at my pace and just of it as a 2K, get out and run quick.
“There’s no intimidation whatsoever,’’ she added.
Baloga compares this challenge to the one she faced at the East Bay national championships in San Diego last December, where the No. 22 seed finished fourth overall.
“I know that I am capable of whatever I put my mind to and what I work for, so I definitely think that it gives me a little bit of motivation,’’ she said.
Live video coverage is available on the Facebook channel for World Athletics (the YouTube feed is blocked in the U.S.)
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Karrie Baloga to compete in steeplechase at World Juniors
